July 3 2005
Lena Lillian Waters
Thursday, Oct. 15th, 2009:
 As I have been repeatedly reminded by my Mother, I have not updated this site in quite sometime, and I apologize!
As you may imagine, life with two toddlers can be a little hectic! A lot has happened this past year, and I find my family
truly blessed! We're coming up on a year since we brought Anya home from Russia, and it's been an adjustment to
say the least! We are all settled in now, and Anya is doing well, and communicating better every day, which makes it
much easier for all of us! She loves going to Pre- school with her big sister. The two of them are inseparable! Of
course there's the occasional high pitched shriek of "It's Mine!", and the tearful drama, but for the most part, they
are two peas in a pod!
 Anya is a real "girly" girl. She loves purses and shoes and necklaces and dressing up. She eats everything and
anything and she's a great sleeper! She loves Raspberries! Of course, she always wants to do everything her big
sister does!
 Lena is extremely creative. Her favorite thing to do is arts and crafts projects, especially if there's glue involved!
She is a very picky eater and has been 28 pounds for over 2 years, and we'll find out next week if she's broken the
thirty pound mark! She's learning to write at school and practicing her letters and writing her name. She has some
really good friends at school. She's also really into music and the two girls go in Lena's room and play music and
dance.
 Our schedule is hectic, but it's working and we have lots of fun! Those girls are beautiful, sweet, loving kids! The
best sound is when they're jumping on the bed and giggling together!
 
Sunday, May 2nd:
  Lena and Anya are closer than ever, and things have really settled down for all of us, after the completion of the
adoption. Anya is really coming out of her shell now. She's able to speak beautifully, and it's much easier, now that
she can tell us what she wants. She's happy, and healthy, and playful. She out weighs Lena by 3 pounds! She loves
getting dressed each day and insists on picking out her outfits. She is even borrowing Lena's clothes already, and
Lena is very generous about it and always says Yes, when Anya asks her "Lena, can I wear this?". It's really cute!
She's a little joker too, and always plays with me and tells me that I'm Daddy, not Mommy, and laughs!
  Lena is getting ready for her graduation from Pre-School going into Kindergarten! I cannot believe she's turning 5
in July! She has got to be the kindest, most loving kid I've ever seen! She's really into Tinkerbell, and coloring. Her
use of color is awesome!
   Their favorite thing to do together is to go into Lena's room, and put on music, and jump on the bed and giggle!
They still do it all the time! Every night at bedtime, each of them gets to pick a book, and we all sit on the bed
together, with me in the middle, and I read to them. It's really nice! They also love it when their Daddy takes them for
a ride in his convertible.
   Lena's favorite color is Blue, and Anya's is Pink. Anya's favorite things to eat are Cheeseburgers and what she
calls "Baby Oranges" (mandarins). Lena is crazy about Trix cereal, and popcorn! They are both wearing the same
shoe size, and they have quite a collection! We recently took a long weekend, and took the kids to Lakelawn Lodge
in Delevan Wisconsin. It's just outside Lake Geneva. It was a two level loft suite, with an upstairs area for the kids,
that had two twin beds, and they had their own bathroom. The room had a balcony overlooking the lake, and it was
so beautiful! The girls got the biggest kick out of playing catch with their Daddy, and throwing a beach ball over the
loft part of the room down to Jim, and he'd throw it back up to them. We went Bowling, we walked around downtown
Lake Geneva, we went to the big candy store there and let them go crazy, and we went swimming several times!
One night, we dressed them up and took them out and they were so excited. Lena even let me put a bow in her hair!
They played air hockey in the game room at the resort and Lena has quite the competitive streak in her! (I wonder
where she gets that from - DADDY!) It was just so nice to spend time with them, without the distractions of everyday
life. It was just about them! It was good for all of us!
  
Here are some pictures from our trip to Lakelawn: